Without a mission, Afghan National Army soldier Habdul Raful slumbers in his barracks room at Combat Outpost Conlon in Jalrez district, Wardak province, on March 22, 2010. Recent joint military operations in Helmand province have demonstrated that Afghan security forces are not ready to replace the International Security Assistance Force. This lack of Afghan capacity may present a grave obstacle to President Obama’s new population-centered strategy. Lacking effective Afghan forces, this policy could further alienate local populations through the continued reliance on ISAF and foreign civilian personnel.

After serving three years with the Afghan National Army’s 1st Company, 2nd Kandak, Abdullah Wahid Mohammad Hussain received a military discharge and returned home. Not all Afghan soldiers wait to be discharged before taking off their uniforms. According to official records, just over 100 soldiers are currently assigned to 1st Company. This number includes 25 soldiers who are listed as missing. Many of these absent soldiers simply removed their uniforms and walked away. An inability to transfer money to family members in remote villages and low pay may be responsible for many of these unauthorized absences.

Before afternoon prayer, Imam Ghulam Mustafa faces a pair of mihrabs while reading the Quran in Jalrez district, Wardak province, on March 21, 2010. An architectural feature in most mosques, a mihrab is a niche in the wall that marks the path leading to Mecca. Determining the present direction of this mosque is less clear. Enclosed in barbed wire, this unadorned mosque stands alongside Combat Outpost Conlon and well beyond the reach of people from neighboring Sangarkhel and Busraq. Some tribal elders from these villages may want it back.

Today, only the shoes and sandals of Afghan security forces are found on the ground near the entrance during the daily salat. As the imam assigned to the Afghan National Army’s 1st Company, 2nd Kandak, Mustafa does not believe the mosque can be safely returned to the public. “Afghan soldiers have been attacked and killed while praying in other areas,” he said during a recent interview. “If we allow civilians to enter the mosque we will be putting our soldiers at risk. Unfortunately, this mosque is so close to our post that it would be very dangerous to just give it back to the people.”

As a young imam, Mustafa often questions his decision to join the military. “I could not earn enough money to support myself as a religious teacher in Afghanistan,” explained Mustafa, while clutching the front of his uniform. “Army regulations require that I dress like a soldier, but I would prefer to wear traditional clothes when leading prayer.”

Outside a mosque, Imam Ghulam Mustafa delivers the Islamic call to prayer, in Jalrez district, Wardak province, on March 22, 2010. “Allah is most great,” chants Mustafa. “I witness that there is no god but Allah. I witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” At mosques around the world, millions of Muslims answer this ritual summons five times a day.

At odds, Imam Ghulam Mustafa receives an indifferent reception from the faculty of a crowded madrasa in Jalrez district, Wardak province, on March 22, 2010. These Islamic religious schools have been widely associated with teaching anti-Americanism and developing radical political views. With an audience of young boys, the headmaster repeatedly accused the uniformed imam of colluding with infidels and adopting Western culture. Mustafa will likely face similar confrontation in the near future as the popularity of madrasas continues to rise throughout Southeast Asia.

Evidence of resistance marks a mud wall in Jalrez district, Wardak province, on March 28, 2010. To counter these visible messages and extremist voices, the U.S. Department of State has identified the development of communication capacity as a key initiative. Included in these plans are the training of Afghan journalists and the installation of media infrastructure in outlying areas. As a milestone, these initiatives aim to notably reduce enemy propaganda by July of 2011. Reaching this landmark will be costly. Communications expenditure for fiscal year 2010 is estimated at $90 million. This figure reflects a budgetary increase of 44 percent since last year.

Colorful strips of fabric hang above a roadside burial site in Jalrez district, Wardak province, on April 1, 2010. Last year, the number of Afghan civilian deaths related to armed conflict climbed to its highest level in more than eight years. Some of these deaths were attributed to tragic mistakes by international military forces. According to a 2009 report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, international military airstrikes accounted for the largest percentage of these deadly incidents.

Afghan National Army Sgt. Mohammad Yassin speaks with a tribal elder from the village of Nawabatt in Jalrez district, Wardak province, on March 30, 2010. Before international military forces can transfer power, Afghan forces must gain popular support and demonstrate they can provide sustainable security at the local level.

Afghan National Army soldier Ghias Israel rests on the hood of a military vehicle after searching for roadside bombs in Jalrez district, Wardak province, on March 27, 2010. Current statistics indicate that guerrilla fighters are actively expanding the use of such weapons. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, guerrilla forces placed 158 effective roadside bombs in just the first two months of this year. These numbers indicate a dangerous trend. In 2007 there were approximately 2,600 roadside bomb incidents; last year the numbers increased to more than 8,100 incidents.

Marked in black, expressive graffiti from a felt pen covers a wall inside the Afghan barracks at Combat Outpost Conlon, Wardak province, on April 4, 2010.

With a cellphone pressed to his ear, Afghan National Army soldier Mohammad Shafiq Khan Rasool settles into a low squat after hearing his ring tone near the entrance to the Afghan barracks at Combat Outpost Conlon, Wardak province, on April 3, 2010.

Patched with plastic and cardboard, this barracks window leads to a small room at Combat Outpost Conlon, Wardak province, on April 4, 2010. For the six Afghan soldiers who live inside, a blanket nailed to the wall functions as their makeshift door. A contract worth more than half a million dollars was awarded to a local contractor to improve the force protection and living conditions of the Afghan National Army’s 1st Company, 2nd Kandak. Delivering the necessary construction materials has proven difficult. According to International Security Assistance Force representatives, employees from the Ferdaws Bahawi Construction Co. have been unable to reach the construction site due to alleged extortion attempts at checkpoints operated by the Afghan National Police and the Afghan Public Protection Program.

After regaining possession of the ball, a sudden burst of speed by Bahyer Neyamatkhan leaves two defensive players on the ground during a football match at Combat Outpost Conlon, Wardak province, on April 4, 2010. Neyamatkahn is a guard employed by an Afghan security contractor.

Flattened tins of vegetable oil line the outside walls of a rural mechanic shop in Wardak province, on April 4, 2010. Cooking oil and wheat have become increasingly expensive food items for the estimated 9 million Afghans who live on less than a dollar a day. According to USAID, impoverished families in rural provinces may face long-term hardships. While the GDP of Afghanistan slowly increases, the economic benefits of reconstruction have been limited to elites located in urban areas. This unequal distribution has permitted the economic gap between the urban rich and the rural poor to widen.

Seated behind a Chinese-made Butterfly sewing machine, Rahulla Zobid Ibrahim skillfully handles a plain-weave shirting selected for a traditional tunic in Midan Shar, the capital of Wardak province, on April 3, 2010. As a lifelong tailor, Ibrahim has witnessed the ever-changing patterns of conflict in Afghanistan. “I have seen the Russians, the Taliban, and now the Americans,” said Ibrahim. “All this time I have worked in a tailor shop.”

Fast-moving clouds drape their shadows across a mountain and onto the fields of Charakee village in Jalrez district, Wardak province, on March 27, 2010. Located in central Afghanistan, this rural province borders Kabul to the east and is inhabited by a Pashtun ethnic majority. Among the estimated 527,000 inhabitants, conflicts have ranged from land disputes linked to the migration of nomadic groups to coordinated attacks by foreign-trained guerrilla fighters.

A crew of young boys plant their toes alongside last season’s potatoes in a freshly tilled field outside the village of Charakee in Jalrez district, Wardak province, on March 25, 2010. Afghanistan’s agro-climatic conditions are ideal for potato farming. However, a regional lack of stock seeds remains a problem for many farmers. Without quality planting material, farmers must retain a portion of their harvest as seeds for the next season. Such practices may reduce productivity while compounding food security issues. In an attempt to reduce Afghanistan’s food insecurity, the U.S. Department of State is coordinating agriculture sector development programs with USAID, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

An elderly shopkeeper sits behind the counter of a used clothing store located in a quiet bazaar near the farming village of Mullahkheal in Jalrez district, Wardak province, on March 24, 2010. Afghanistan’s economy remains fixed to the labor-intensive agricultural sector, a common characteristic of many less-developed countries. As a result, non-agricultural wage-earning opportunities are rare in many rural communities.

A bicycle fender is decorated with a photograph of Hindustani singer Kumkum Sanyal in Jalrez district, Wardak province, on April 4, 2010.

On a single-speed bicycle, a bearded cyclist cranks into a desperate sprint before reaching a hill in Jalrez district, Wardak province, on March 28, 2010.